Cook This Now: 120 Easy and Delectable Dishes You Can't Wait to Make [Hardcover]

Melissa Clark (Author)

Book Description

Release date: October 4, 2011

"This collection of brilliantly conceived, seasonally driven recipes has quickly become one of my favorites. Easy to prepare and incredibly satisfying, this is inventive comfort food at its best. A must for any passionate home cook."
--Gwyneth Paltrow, author of My Father's Daughter "Fig Snacking Cake? Stupendous Hummus? Whatever Greens You've Got Salad? I want all of it! Melissa's smart, welcoming style and love of food infuse this wonderful cookbook. It's an extremely personal collection of recipes, each with its own subtle twists and original flavors, and on every page you hear Melissa's voice reassuringly guiding you around the kitchen."
--Amanda Hesser, author of The Essential New York Times Cookbook and co-founder of food52.com

Melissa Clark, New York Times Dining Section columnist, offers a calendar year's worth of brand-new recipes for cooking with fresh, local ingredients--replete with lively and entertaining stories of feeding her own family and friends.

Many people want to eat well, organically and locally, but don't know where or even when to begin, since the offerings at their local farmers' market change with the season. In Cook This Now, Melissa Clark shares all her market savvy, including what she decides to cook after a chilly visit to the produce section in the dead of winter; what to bring to a potluck dinner that's guaranteed to be a hit; and how she feeds her marathon-running husband and finicky toddler. In addition, she regales us with personal stories about good times with family and friends, and cooking adventures such as her obsessive cherry pie experimentation and the day she threw out her husband's last preserved Meyer lemon.

In her welcoming, friendly voice, Melissa takes you inside her life while providing the dishes that will become your go-to meals for your own busy days. Recipes include Crisp Roasted Chicken with Chickpeas, Lemons, and Carrots with Parsley Gremolata; Baked Apples with Fig and Cardamom Crumble; Honey-Roasted Carrot Salad with Arugula and Almonds; Quick-Braised Pork Chops with Spring Greens and Anchovies; Coconut Fudge Brownies--and much more.

Melissa delivers easy, delicious meals featuring organic, fresh ingredients that can be uniquely obtained during each particular month. It can be a real challenge to feed families these days, but Melissa's recipes and inviting writing encourage home cooks to venture outside of the familiar, yet please everyone at the table.

Editorial Reviews

Review

One of NPR's Best Cookbooks of 2011:

"What Clark does so well is to tweak easy dishes just far enough that they become interesting again.  Professional food columnist or not, Clark is at heart a home cook's home cook, with a flair for practical innovation."
--T Susan Chang, food writer and NPR Contributor

From the Author

Crisp Roasted Chicken with Chickpeas, Lemons, and Carrots with Parsley Gremolata

When I flip through food magazines, I rarely read the recipes. I look at the photos and imagine what I think the recipe should be. Most of the time I get it pretty close but sometimes I'm way off base. This recipe is an example of that.

The photo was of a roasted chicken on a bed of chickpeas and what I thought were tiny cubes of carrot. I could taste the dish in my head. The chickpeas were crunchy and salty next to the melting, sweet carrots and everything was suffused with chicken fat from the roasting bird.

In fact, the carrots turned out to be bits of orange bell pepper (definitely not in season in January in New York) and the chickpeas were added to the pan during the last few minutes of cooking so they would stay moist and soft, without the time to absorb much in the way of chicken essence. I'm sure it was a perfectly good dish. But I liked my own idea better.

So next time I roasted a chicken, I tried it.

I placed the chicken on a rack over the chickpeas and carrot slices so all the good juices would drip down onto them. I also added slivered lemon because I love the way lemons caramelize when you roast them, and I figured the dish would need some zip to perk up the garam masala, a spicy, earthy Indian spice blend I rubbed on the bird.

While it roasted, I chopped together a mix of parsley, lemon zest, and garlic known as gremolata (which is usually served with osso buco) to sprinkle on top. I knew it would give the whole thing some color and a little kick from the garlic, which would be welcome with all the hearty flavors.

When everything was done, the chicken was burnished, shining and fragrant, and the chickpeas, lemon bits, and carrots were caramelized and tender. It was so pretty I immediately had to take a picture, which looks nothing like the food porn photo that was its inspiration. I can't say how the flavors compare, but my chicken was darned good - intensely lemony, very succulent, the chickpeas as tempting as bacon. Maybe one day I'll dig up that other recipe to give it a whirl....though given how delightful this dish is, maybe not.
    
Serves 4

For the Chicken:
2 lemons
2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons garam masala
2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 (3 1/2-pound) whole chicken, rinsed and patted dry
4 thyme sprigs
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 pound carrots, peeled, trimmed and cut into 1-inch rounds

For the Gremolata:
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 small garlic clove, finely chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 400° F. Quarter the lemons lengthwise and remove and discard any seeds. Thinly slice six of the lemon quarters crosswise (you will get little triangles) and in a bowl, toss them with the chickpeas, oil, 1/2 tablespoon (which equals 1 1/2 teaspoons if you don't have a 1/2 tablespoons measure) of the garam masala, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
3. Season the inside of the chicken cavity with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Fill the cavity with remaining wedges of lemon and thyme sprigs. Rub the outside of the chicken all over with the remaining 1 tablespoon garam masala, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Rub the butter all over the skin.
4. Scatter the carrots in the bottom of the largest roasting pan you have (use the one you use for your Thanksgiving turkey). Place a wire roasting rack over the carrots; arrange the chicken, breast-side-up, on the rack. Transfer the pan to the oven and roast, stirring the carrots occasionally, for 30 minutes. Scatter the chickpea mixture into the bottom of the roasting pan. Continue to roast until the chicken's thigh juices run clear when pierced with a knife, 45 to 60 minutes longer. Let chicken rest 5 minutes before carving.
5. Meanwhile, combine the parsley, lemon zest, and garlic in a bowl. Spoon the carrot-chickpea mixture onto a platter; arrange the chicken on top. Sprinkle the gremolata over the dish and serve.

What Else?
- Some farmers' market chickens have tough old legs because they develop actual muscle tone from the exercise they get pecking for grubs around the farm. If you suspect you've got one like this (or you know you do from prior experience with a particular farm), you might want to carve them off the chicken carcass and give them a head start in the oven before adding the breast. That way your breast won't dry out in the time that the legs will need to soften. To do this, carve the legs off the bird and smear those legs and the rest of the chicken carcass with the butter, salt, and seasonings. Put the legs in the pan (along with the carrots) to roast for 15 minutes before adding the carcass with the breasts (tuck the lemon and herbs inside the cavity before roasting). Overall time will be a tad longer than called for above, just keep checking to see when the juices run clear with a knife.

A Dish by Another Name:
- For a more traditional Sunday Supper Roasted Chicken, you can skip the chickpeas and lemon bits and instead just add a pound of cubed potatoes to the pan along with the carrots. Season carrots and potatoes with salt and pepper and give them a stir once or twice while the chicken roasts. This is good with or without the gremolata.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion (October 4, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401323987
• ISBN-13: 978-1401323981
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 1.2 x 9.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #356,928 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Melissa Clark writes about cuisine and other products of appetite. After brief forays working as a cook in a restaurant kitchen, and as a caterer out of her fifth floor walk-up, Clark decided upon a more sedentary path. She earned an M.F.A. in writing from Columbia University, and began a freelance food writing career. Currently, she is a food columnist for the New York Times, and has written for Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, Every Day with Rachel Ray, and Martha Stewart, amongst others.

Her acclaimed cookbook,In the Kitchen with A Good Appetite, came out in the fall of 2010 with essays and recipes based on her popular New York Times Dining section column, A Good Appetite.

Clark's most recent book, Cook This Now, a personal collection of seasonally driven, inventive comfort food, came out in October 2011, published by Hyperion.
All told, Clark has written 32 other cookbooks, many of them in collaboration with some of New York's most celebrated chefs including Daniel Boulud (Braise), David Bouley (East of Paris), Claudia Fleming (The Last Course), and Bruce and Eric Bromberg (The Blue Ribbon). A book of dessert recipes, The Perfect Finish, written with White House pastry chef Bill Yosses, came out in June 2010. Her collaboration with chef Peter Berley, The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen, received both a James Beard award and Julia Child Cookbook award in 2000.

Clark was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, where she now lives with her husband, Daniel Gercke, their preschool daughter Dahlia, and their formerly cosseted cat.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 37 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing Recipes in an Unappetizing Format November 27, 2011

By History on Film Buff

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I bought this cookbook after hearing raves for it on NPR and have mixed feelings about it. The book has some interesting new twists on preparing greens with new flavor combinations such as Mustard Greens with Anchovy Croutons and Gruyere Cheese (be warned; anchovies appear in quite a few recipes) and Cabbage Salad with Peanuts, Mint, and Chilies. I liked the Cumin Seed Roasted Cauliflower with Salted Yogurt and Pomegranate Seeds which was faster and easier to make than it sounds. Each recipe is followed by a "What Else" section with suggestions for versions of the basic recipe. This was important for me because I could not find ingredients like oyster mushrooms, unsweetened coconut flakes, orange blossom water, or preserved lemons, so I needed substitutions. Another plus is that the recipes range widely in flavor from India-inspired to Mediterranean to East-West Fusion cuisine. Lots of the recipes are genuinely original, such as Creme Brulee French Toast with Orange Blossom Water. I substituted diluted orange extract with a bit of agave syrup in it for the orange blossom water and it came out just fine. On the downside, the book is oddly plain; page after page of plain text feels at odds with the vibrant nature of the recipes. The book features only 16 color pictures in 386 pages. More pictures, please! A beautiful photo of a dish often inspires me to try the recipe. Despite the lack of photos the commentary and advice that accompany the recipes is excellent and you get the author's spontaneous joy and creativity as she experiments with the dishes. You feel like it would be fun to know the author Melissa Clark and spend time in her kitchen. She is very down-to-earth in her advice for busy cooks and while these recipes are probably not for newbie cooks, they are not hard to put together to great effect if you understand basic techniques for braising, grilling, roasting, etc. My husband loved the Braised Leg of Lamb with Garlicky Root Vegetable Puree; just a lovely and fragrant dish to make a Friday night at home special. I hope that in the next edition of this book there will be more pictures and suggestions for wine pairings too.

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars a must on every home cook's shelf October 5, 2011

By Sassy Radish

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

If you've ever cooked anything from Melissa's famed Good Appetite column in the NYTimes, you know that her recipes work. They are also delicious and practical for the home cook. This book is her kitchen diary for a year - what she actually cooked for herself and her family. The book is structured seasonally, month by month, making it really easy for those getting into seasonally inspired cooking to follow the book along. Having cooked many recipes from the book already, I can tell you it's a lovely addition to my shelf. So much so that I keep it within arm's reach for inspiration for what to make for tonight's dinner. In fact, tonight we'll be making roasted cauliflower from her book - a delicious, easy, terrific side dish. Andrew Scrivani (who is amazing) photographed this book - and each picture is mouthwateringly delicious. This will be a book you'll love forever.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great reading and great eating! October 17, 2011

By rnbaker

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book keeps moving from the kitchen counter to my bedside reading table....the writing as well as the food is warm and comforting. I have made the mallomars- awesome and so easy! Also made the vietnamese grilled steak and cabbage which will be in a regular rotation at our house-it was light, flavorful and took just minutes to prepare. I will definitely use this book on a regular basis , along with her previous book. The recipes all work- I would not hesitate to make any recipe without trying it first for a dinner party.